Episode Details

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft

Meet Schrödinger’s AI apocalypse - it is / isn’t happening. Cory Doctorow is the final boss of AI criticism. His sophisticated understanding of computer science paired with science fiction writing talents means he gets a good story about the future.

AI companies have been spending billions. Much of it has been in data centre buildout that is filtering out into the US economy though at a ~2% growth rote. But the rest has been in marketing budgets, selling us an ideological story about how AI will take on all the menial tasks we don’t want to do.

We don’t have our heads in the sand. There have been some monumental breakthroughs in computing power that is solving millennial maths problems, creating hyper-targeting weaponry and surveillance, advancing exotic isotope development for cures for cancer. It is enhancing what some, who use the software proficiently, are able to achieve.

Yet AI is not infallible. AI will not inevitably replace human labour. Like every political tradeoff, it is a choice.

Something has changed in recent days. En masse, the major AI players of Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk have agreed to a slowdown in AI buildout. Why? Because, they say, too many AI safety researchers are raising alarm bells of a mass extinction possibility from this tech.

So is it time to hit panic stations?

Cory Doctorow is not convinced. All the most threatening things tech is capable of: shutting down economies, ransomware cyber attacks, monopoly rent extraction, are risks we are already living with. If you’re worrying about the future, you should be worried about today.

00:00 Intro

07:09 Is the AI Apocalypse Happening?

12:30 Is The Crita-Hype View Cynical?

19:28 Stock Valuations from Storytelling

27:40 Can AI Replace Labour?

35:30 Who Wins From Automation Adoption?

43:52 Slowdown in Buildout and the AI Bubble

50:50 Digital Sovereignty Is Not About AI

59:05 A Post-American Internet

1:08:01 Can the Left Get Serious?

1:13:01 Are the Elites Divided?